Tuesday, April 29, 2008

I haven't been feeling to well since I got back from the convention. I ended up with a cold and my fibromyalgia has been acting up. I probably pushed it a little too much at the convention. Now it is a matter of listening to my body and giving it what it needs.

The convention was great. I went kid and hubby free. I was the only one in my group of friends (besides Wendy's mother) that didn't have her family there. At times I really missed the family but I enjoyed the little bit of RR. Friday night was like a slumber party in my room...crack calls included! My friend Pam ended up needing a place to stay so I welcomed her and her 3 daughters with open arms into my room. We were having fun just being goofy---looking up videos on YouTube, singing and dancing to them and then making crank calls to our friend Laura's room. It was all in good fun. Let me just say...Laura KNEW it was us and she is a real trooper. We were rolling with laughter.

I did spend some of time in the convention vendor hall feeling like I was going around in circles. I am at the point that I am sick of spending money on books and curriculum to just turn around and not use it. I am trying to make wiser decisions. I have made a few decisions so far for curriculum.Math--Horizon for Jessica and Alex. Phonics---Explode the Code and Hooked on Phonics (already have been using this) Handwriting--A Reason for Handwriting. Jessica and Alex. manuscript Zachary will be using Handwriting without Tears for cursive. Science---Scientist Apprentice with some Considering God's Creation mixed in. The little ones also do science at co-op.

I am undecided what to do about History and Grammar. Grammar depends on History. I know this sounds weird so I will explain. I am considering doing Tapestry of Grace. There are 9 families I know that will be doing it this year---all in our co-op. It is so hard to go against the grain. Now just to make myself clear...I WAS thinking of doing TOG BEFORE everyone else started doing it. It is one of those things that I told myself "someday I will do it". I just am not sure if this is the time. I do like what they offer----HOWEVER---I am not a history person. Most days I have a hard enough time getting through the three R's. BUT I know I can't avoid history forever. Also, the three middle ones can do alot together. So if I do TOG than I will either do Easy Grammar or BJU Grammar. If I don't use TOG than I haven't decided what I am going to use. I just picked up Total Langauge Plus for Zachary and figured I would give that a try over the summer.

You may have noticed that through all that I never mentioned doing TOG with my oldest. While I find the highest level of TOG fantastic, I believe it is not a good fit for CJ. He has (almost) always used the textbook approach to history. To switch him in 10th grade I feel would not be a good idea...especially since he doesn't like to read (I hear all the gasps out there). So far I know for him:Math--Teaching Textbooks, Algebra 2 English---Honors class at co-op with some English from the Roots up Science--Chemistry, ApologiaAt the convention I was stressing some about what to use. Now...not so much. I figure I have plenty of time to figure it out.

2 comments:

Sounds like you had a great time. I haven't been able to go to a convention in a few years~always conflicts with daughter's dance program out of town. Have you tried reading historical fiction for your history. There are some great ones out there, and they make it much more interesting for everyone~mom included. That usually makes up most of our history, along with historical biographies. My 10 year old loves history. Right now we're doing History Through the Ages, Time Travelers on the American Revolution. It has a lot of activities, but we're just taking it as much as we want to in a day. Letitiawww.homeschoolblogger.com/SandBetweenMyToes/

I can't wait until our convention. It is easy to get overwhelmed in the convention hall isn't it! It sounds like you made some good choices, I have used many of them myself and love them! Especially ETC and HWT.Tonihttp://thehappyhousewife.com

About Me

Register Nurse by degree, Stay-At-Home Mom by choice! I have 7 children, 4 born from my womb and 3 born from my heart. I married my highschool sweetheart back in 1992 and we are still going strong!!! I am great at ordering out for dinner, but I am getting better at cooking. I am trying to broaden my horizons by learning how to sew, scrapbook, stamp, and cook.